1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to plant cages, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved plant cage apparatus selectively expandable to accommodate plant growth, and are sturdy and stackable.
2. Background-Description of Prior Art
The desirability of rigid sturdy cage has been sought aft for many years by serious gardeners. The ability to break them down in a few pieces for transportability and storage is a very desirable feature. But the combination of these two has been rare,
A common plant support in use today is conrtructed from a single section of concrete reinforcement wire having a square or rectangular wire lattice construction. The plant support is formed by bending a section of the reinforcement wire into a cylinder-shape and attaching the ends together with the wire to form a finished plant support cage. However, at the end of the season, these plant supports are generally left intact and stored side-by-side as separate cages, since these plant supports cannot be nested. Thus a large storage area is required for such supports. The multiplicity or plurality of panels is a feature of this invention that overcomes this problem.
This common single section support does provide the rigidity of the unit that is desired as apposed to a flimsy unit. This rigidity provides for easy handling for moving or setting up or staking it in the soil. Yet it is necessary, as well, to have a large diameter of staking support to provide vertical stability. This along with the rigidity will give a high load bearing capability for on and off center loads, required by heavy produce producing plants, as most tomatoes plants.
For example, a popular plant supports sold on the market today is often called a xe2x80x9ccone cagexe2x80x9d. It comprises circular supports having three (3) or four (4) tapered vertical support wires having lower free ends that together are imbedded into the ground during usage and three (3) or four (4) horizontal cross wires welded or otherwise attached to the vertical support wires. This popular support suffers nesting difficulties due to the free ends being bent during insertion into the ground and remain bent after removal at the end of the season. Further, the extreme taper required for nesting seriously reduces the good stability of the unit needed when inserted in the ground and the small diameter of the lower horizontal wires is generally insufficient to properly enclose and support the lower branches of the plant. Also, the resulting frictional and interference contact of the units thus nested makes it difficult to remove a unit from a nested stack of units. In contrast the present invention has high stability when inserted into the ground and provides for lower branch support. Hillerstad U.S. Pat. No. 5,179,799 is an example of a variation of this variety. Some require stakes as Benson U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,446 or have only a few number of support members Hillerstad Benson, Brown U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,231 and thus reducing stability when planted. The said invention has numerous support stakes. Nested storage is a favorable feature, provided by the provided by the invention. It is more favorable than flat staking.
It is desirable to expand the unit for the plant requirement. Risler U.S. Pat. No. 4,894,951 does not the pieces of assembly are too numerous for most gardeners. As well, Benson, Hillestad and Allman U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,559. The said Invention has a few number of identical, interchangeable sections. Thus with the plurality of large interchangeable panels, rigidity of assemblage, large diameter support ring, nested storage and portability, and expandability of this invention is what is serious gardeners have been asking for and looking for quite some time.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of plant cage apparatus now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a plant cage apparats wherein the same is provided with panel members to quickly assemble and disassemble provide rigidity to the unit and accommodate expansion or contraction of the plant cage apparatus to accommodate associated plant development and may be compactly stored when not in use. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will best describe greater detail, is to provide a new and improved plant cage apparatus which has all the advantages of the prior art plant cage apparatus and none of the disadvantages. To attain this, th present invention comprises plurality of e panels or sections vertically oriented wherein the vertical edges of the panels members are secured by connector members slidingly thereto to expansion or contraction of the assembled apparatus.
This invention resides not in any one of these features but rather in the particular combination of all of them herein disclosed and claimed and it is distinguished from the prior art in this set forth combination of all of its structures for the functions specified panels or sections vertically oriented.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved plant cage apparatus, which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed. It is an improved plant cage apparatus, which is of a durable and reliable construction.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved plant cage apparatus which is susceptible of a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consumer thereby making such plant cage apparatus economically available to the buying public. Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved plant cage apparatus which provides in the benefits and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.